Lots of things are conspiring to keep me away from the easel at the moment and I’ll write about them when time allows. I did manage to complete a preliminary sketch of our new Yorkies towards creating the full work requested by the boss for her belated Xmas present. I am really pleased to have captured their different personalities at this early stage.
Tag Archives: Dogs
Two puppies arrive
It’s been a hectic week topped off with the arrival of 2 Yorkshire Terrier puppies today. Gina has been searching for another small dog for a while and then we finally heard of a litter in Yaniklar, only just down the road. Gina couldn’t pick between the two little girls and decided to have both! Then, I was asked to show my paintings at an exhibition of English artists at the Sarnic Gallery in Kayakoy starting this Sunday. It’s also the eve of the Calis Xmas Fair and I am hoping for a successful day tomorrow, at least the weather forecast is looking great for the Festival. Meanwhile, I had some cards printed in the UK for our mothers and this was the painting I used.
Is Fethiye becoming a concrete jungle?
This is a reworking of an earlier painting that I’ve done to remind me of the atmosphere of Calis cemetary. We walk our dogs on the hills above and were sad to see that the reckless concrete development of Fethiye continues without respite. The canals in this area, once the home of egrets and kingfishers, are starting to resemble a scene from a L.A. car chase and the the gravel paths and overgrown verges that crossed Calis cemetary are gone, cut back, levelled and smoothed over with grey concrete. I love progress but a bit of forethought is desperately needed at the moment.
The new season
Though tinged with sadness as Summer ends, my thoughts this Monday morning turn to all the interesting things we get to do now the weather has changed. Our winter weather is like September in the UK. So coming up this week we can look forward to more daily painting, hill walking the dogs, catch-up with movies, pick and preserve the autumn harvest, start the DIY on the boat and house, join exercise groups, take Turkish lessons and more. I won’t go on but this lifestyle depends on staying fit and well and so we keep our fingers crossed, appreciate how lucky we are and never take anything for granted.
Dog hunting
Since we lost Ziggy all has been quiet on the dog front. However, Gina has started showing the signs of wanting another bitch and I can sense the first developments in the hunt for a suitable animal. I’ll keep you posted and I’ll continue getting Inspiration for my daily paintings from the spirit of Xmas.
Ziggy R.I.P.
I painted this portrait of Ziggy, our beautiful Vizla, for Gina’s birthday last week and had intended to post it today on Ziggy’s birthday to celebrate all the great times we’ve had.
Now I have to tell you that Ziggy died suddenly in the night. It was an awful shock when Gina found her this morning. Ziggy was exactly one year old and we have no idea why she died, there are no signs and she was perfectly normal at 11pm last night. It seems there are many causes of sudden death in young dogs, my best guess is something related to the distemper she had when we rescued her, heart failure or a seizure perhaps. The vet and our neighbours all say the most likely cause is a snake bite.
She came into our lives like a bolt of lightning, shining brilliantly for just a moment, leaving her presence burned into our minds. We are content that we gave her the best life that we could and sad that we couldn’t say goodbye. We know that she will be playing forever in the garden of our memories
Rory the Labradoodle
Rory is huge, that’s my first impression whenever I see him. Then I think, he’s nothing like a poodle apart from being woolly and he’s nothing like a labrador apart from being easy going. Rory is Rory and what a fabulous creature he is! He lives with our friends Mike and Jenny and I am posting this portrait as a thank you to them.
Cemetery Walk
To get to the hills where we normally walk our dogs you can climb up through a small cemetery. It is a place of melancholy beauty, family groups sipping çay ın among the olive trees. Wild flowers thrive among the monuments large and small framing the views above Calis and out across the Bay of Fethiye. This is my impression of the view inland as we head home on another scorching day here in Turkey.
Hedgehog Happy Hounds
Not much sleep last night after a chorus of all the dogs in the area woke us at 2.30. Unfortunately it was started by our pair, Ziggy and Zara doing their best to make us believe they were being tortured with hot needles. As it turned out that was a fair description.
Opening the door revealed a pattern of bloody spots and paw prints and we thought, oh no, here we go again! Luckily, all became clear when Gina discovered nothing more sinister than a very large hedgehog. This was deposited in the field opposite and serenity reigned again, well as near as we ever get to it!
At least the horrible wet weather today enabled me to finish this landscape. Here, I’m trying to capture some of the spirit of Kayakoy as the changes in the wind move it into another phase. It’s been out of sight for a long time, hidden away and quietly corroding, but the future is rushing in as politicians, developers and all the other interested parties begin to unfold their plans and read us their agendas. Plus ca change, plus c’est la meme chose.
Antifouling blues
Well, it’s been a week since I last posted anything although I’ve been doing loads of painting. Unfortunately only rolling several coats of sky blue antifouling paint onto the bottom of my boat! However, it’s finished now, until next year of course, and Daisy goes back in the water tomorrow. That’s the boat, not our Yorkshire Terrier who coincidentally shares the same name.